Acting in Columbus Newsletter | August 2009: UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

Photo: Andrew K.

ACTING FOR FILM EIGHT-WEEK SCENE STUDY Acting Fundamentals for beginners

Wednesdays, beginning September 16, 2009 7:00pm-9:30pm $200

This class is limited to 12 students.

This class offers a focused introduction to the acting process. Beginning actors work, stage, and shoot several film scenes during the eight-week session. We work in depth on concepts central to the actor's role development for film. We use Shurtleff's 12 Guideposts as our basic text to help students make strong choices with a wide variety of scenes and monologues. Your ability to make active, personal choices.

Photo: Pandora C.

Advanced Acting for Film

Tuesdays beginning September 15, 2009 7:00pm-9:30pm $200

This class is limited to 12 students.

Here is your opportunity to take on more challenging scenes. To work with people who are serious about the work. This is an on-going, eight-week course designed to stretch your skills. Actors work, stage, and shoot several film scenes during the eight-week session. Scripts from soaps, sitcoms, dramatic TV and film are used. Actors receive a new scene each week to be prepared but not rehearsed in order to most closely reproduce the working situation in TV and Film.

For Intermediate and Advanced level actors.

Your final scenes will be screened for area Agents and Casting Directors.

This on-camera intensive is designed to enable the actor to handle commercial auditions, film and TV sides, scenes, and monologues for film. Working with the camera, actors will break down scenes to discover the humor, emotional moments, pacing, beats and more. The class will also explore the fundamentals of film and commercial auditioning, including slating and how to interview effectively, while exploring the entire audition scenario. The class will focus on strengthening performances and working with confidence in front of the camera during cold readings as well as prepared sides.

Acting for TV Commercials preps aspirants for the small screen. Sunday, January 18, 2009 3:24 AM By Nick Chordas THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

It wasn't how Dwight Pigg expected to spend his 45th birthday -- staring at a fixed point on the wall and extolling the virtues of a glow-in-the-dark remote control. "No more fumbling around. And it glows in the dark. Glows in the dark! And here's the best part -- it's only $19.95!"The exercise was part of "Acting for TV Commercials," a seven-hour class yesterday inside the Ohio Theatre. Pigg, a mortgage loan officer from Westerville, was one of nine aspiring actors who attended."In this day and age, you have to convince someone to pay attention to you in less than 10 seconds," said teacher Richard Mason, a 27-year acting veteran and founder of Acting in Columbus. "That means you have to be a dynamic performer. It's tough. People don't have any idea how tough it is."Pigg's wife bought him the class as a birthday present because she was "tired of me watching TV and saying, 'I can do that better,' " he joked. "Besides, there have to be some parts out there for a middle-aged balding guy."Before the afternoon was over, the students learned the basics: how to find a reputable agent, going through the audition process ("It takes 15 auditions to book one job") and, eventually, how to perform for the camera. They even learned the finer points of chewing food convincingly.All that didn't come cheap. Mason charges $200 for the afternoon. Lunch is not included, although snacks are provided. Welcome to the business, indeed.The monthly class, held inside the chilly confines of rehearsal studio No. 3, usually caps out at 12 students. Mason, who also works as a casting assistant, said he was surprised by the number of students who attended yesterday's session. "Because of the economy, I was panicking that I wasn't going to have anyone," he said. "Acting classes are a luxury, and the industry has been hit pretty hard. Advertising is one of the first things companies tend to cut. "It's a tough time for breaking into the industry, but there are still jobs out there."Landing those jobs is the tough part. Renee Ritchey, a 40-year-old account executive from Worthington, said she caught the acting bug 15 years ago but never truly pursued a career before the camera. Not surprisingly, her acting resume is limited, including roles in community theater and a commercial for Big Bear in which she dressed like the Easter Bunny.Her first take was deemed "too stiff." The second take, after Ritchey was instructed to loosen up with 15 jumping jacks, worked just fine.Mason said that 60 percent of the people who take his class book a job within two months -- more than one for SafeAuto Insurance. "SafeAuto is kind of a rite of passage for actors in Columbus," he said. He said that actors can be paid $3,000 for a regional spot that runs 13 weeks, while a national ad for the same run can deliver a paycheck as high as $10,000.That kind of payday sounded good to Brian Willis of Columbus. The 34-year-old food service and catering employee has been told for years that he "should be in commercials" thanks to a deep, commanding voice. "I don't know if I was too scared to do it before or what, but now seemed like a good time to give it a shot," he said.nchordas@dispatch.com

• Experience with the actual audition process: You'll work on-camera all day doing both prepared and cold readings, and receive plenty of feedback from instructor Richard Mason

• Script analysis skills: We have written our own textbook that breaks this process down and makes it simple

• Comfort in front of the camera: How do you stand? How do you hold the script? How do you deal with your partner and the camera at the same time? What is a slate? What do you do with your hands?

• Practice at doing all types of commercials: Scene work, improv, one-liners, bite and smiles, handling products, etc.

• How to get started: This is our "Intro to the World of Camera Acting" class. It includes our "How Does This Business Really Work?" Seminar. You will learn how to make the first contact with the agents, and all the follow-ups you will need to "Break In".

You'll also learn how to market to the casting directors, all about pictures and resumes, how the unions work, etc.

By taking this class you have the opportunity to show the agents that you are serious about pursuing this type of work. It also allows them to be more confident in submitting you, because they know you'll be able to handle yourself in front of the camera. Being a good commercial actor requires many things, including strong acting skills, a solid work ethic, and lots of hard work. This class is a good first step toward acquiring those things and being successful. Enrollment in this workshop also includes three months of Career Management. This Workshop is limited to 12 students.